Saturday, June 18, 2011

NewLook 6774 - Yellow linen dress

This pattern was picked specifically for this yellow linen border print. I went looking for a dress pattern with a fairly straight bottom and somewhat simple top. My favorite was the view with the pockets and flutters on the shoulder straps. But lately I have noticed that while I'm drawn to these younger styles, I feel childish when I'm wearing them. So I went with a straight front, no flutters and no pockets. (The pockets would have just been in the way, as it turned out.)

This gorgeous yellow linen with embroidered floral border was purchased last year at either Hancock's or JoAnn's - I can't remember which. For all my love of yellow, I really don't own that many garments that feature it as the main color. After it was 90% completed, I was not happy with how long the skirt was. Not wanting to lose any of the embroidery at the bottom, I created 3 tucks which are 3/8" in length, and they pulled the skirt up to the desired length. I think they turned out to be a really interesting design element, and gives this simple dress a bit more detail.

The front and back gathers were spaced out evenly around the waist inset to avoid any poofy pregnant look, a necessity with this limited draping fabric.

As you can see from the tiny line drawing, I did make some changes to the back. Since I wanted to space out the back gathers more, having a zipper right through the middle was going to be a problem. This was easily solved by cutting all the back pieces on a fold and moving the zipper to the side seam.


Here's the invisible zipper at the left side seam. I took lots of pictures when I put it in for a zipper tutorial. I'll try to put that together and get it posted in the next few days.

The line drawing would have you believe there is some sort of banding along the top of this design. It turned out to be topstitching. It bothers me to have only one tiny bit of topstitching on a garment, plus I didn't want to have to interface the entire bodice when I only needed stability along the very top. Adding a band was simple enough, and I was sure to make it the same width as the shoulder straps.

The banding along the inside was the one to get the interfacing, as you can see in this next picture. Since I was using linen, I added a skirt lining to avoid having a baggy bottom when wearing it. The lining is inexpensive cotton/poly broadcloth from Hancock's. I wanted to be able to wash this dress and finished all of the exposed seams in the skirt.

I love it!

56 comments:

  1. Beautiful, excellent fitting, sunny, dress! So clever to make the tucks to help with the length, and they are a perfect addition to the design.

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  2. This dress is so pretty! I love the border print. :]

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  3. Adorable dress. I too think you are ver clever for adding the tucks and turning them into a design feature. It frames the embroidery nicely.

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  4. It is so lovely! It looks beautiful and comfy too. I love what you did with the tucks - makes the skirt section really come alive a bit. I'm too drawn to styles that can make me look like a little girl, however what you've done here looks whimsy and fun rather than "too young." Really fabulous work - I love the linen! Totally sweet! xoxo, Sunni

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  5. Adorable dress!

    Don't you just love it when the solution to a problem makes your design even better?

    The tucks are definitely the perfect touch.

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  6. Seriously pretty dress. I agree that the tucks add to the interest of the dress.

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  7. Very pretty and the tucks add the extra interest and served a wonderful purpose as well.

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  8. Very pretty! What a great border print you found. Love all that yellow :-)

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  9. Beautiful dress and the tucks were a brilliant idea! Fantastic job!

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  10. I love everything about this dress. Your design changes make the entire look. Adding the tucks was pure genius.

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  11. You're right - the set of tucks is the perfect extra touch! Very stylish!

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  12. The "grow tucks" are a wonderful accent to that beautiful border. Very pretty.

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  13. Beautiful! I may steal your clever tucks idea for a dress I'd like to shorten. ;-)

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  14. Simply beautiful! Love those tucks.

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  15. You are just so clever! The tucks are a great detail, and even better that they solve a problem!

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  16. Gorgeous! The tucks look perfect.

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  17. Love those 'accidental' bits of brilliance - the tucks are perfect on this dress. Thanks for the inspiration :)

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  18. Your dress is beautiful, and your sewing is excellent. The tucks are a great idea!


    Andrea
    satinbirddesigns.blogspot.com

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  19. So summery! Sometimes the best design features are the creative "rescues". The tucks are great!

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  20. This is a beautiful classic look with a perfect fit! The embroidered border is very pretty and I'm going to have to "ditto" the added tucks....love them. Clever you! :o)

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  21. Super pretty dress Amanda! Such a lovely yellow number and a great way to use a border print!

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  22. So beautiful. Youthful and pretty without being kiddy or girlish, which is a rare achievement. I love the changes you have made too.

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  23. That's a very pretty dress. The yellow really suits you and I love the tucks you made as a feature.

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  24. I love it! I too have made this frock and it was possibly my most worn frock this past summer.

    I love seeing what you make. I've actually just released a bonnet pattern via my Etsy shop and wanted to know if you would like to review the pattern. I'm sure Rachel will look lovely in a bonnet. Sorry to ask via a comment, but I can't seem to find an email contact on your blog. Please let me know if you are interested. You can see what I'm talking about on my blog. :)

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  25. Adorable. I love the border print.

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  26. That's such a pretty dress, perfect for a hot summery day. The tucks look as if they belonged there all along. Very nice.

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  27. This is such a lovely dress, so perfecty put together. I love how you have adapted the pattern to make it work for the fabric and for you. Genius idea to add the tucks - they solved your problem, yet also give the dress that extra something in terms of style. The fabric is gorgeous - I smiled when I thought of how nice it must be for Rachel to look at such a lovely, sunny looking Mom!

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  28. This is beautiful! The tucks are my favorite part...I didn't realize they weren't part of the original pattern. Excellent addition!

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  29. What a beautiful Summer dress . Yellow is definitely your colour. As always this is beautiful inside and out.

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  30. I love the tucks. They really add to the look of the dress. Perfect pattern to show off the fabric.

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  31. Pretty dress. I love the colour.

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  32. Wow, I love this dress Amanda! and what a great way to correct the length and keep the border too! Awesome work!

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  33. I love it too, Amanda. What a beautiful summer linen dress. Great use of the border print and very clever to use the tucks to shorten the length without losing any of the border print. As always, a very professional and impecably finished garment.

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  34. I love the tucks as well! You always do such a wonderful job!

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  35. Very beautiful! And I love how you added the tucks wonderful!

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  36. Yellow is one of my favorite colors and this dress is so nice. I really like the way you used the tucks in the skirt to alter the length. Great dress.

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  37. This is such a sunny and fun dress. I absolutely love the three tucks on the skirt.

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  38. So pretty, and you know I love love yellow!

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  39. What a sweet and summery dress!

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  40. The tucks are brilliant!!! You did a beautiful job - you look great and so happy in the dress.

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  41. Wow. That is some technical drawing! You may never have to buy another pattern, lol. Am always checking your site to see what lovely garment you have concocted -- we live in similar weather zones, and I like to see how other Southern sewists cope with the heat and humidity. And how they handle "design decisions." (There are no mistakes, only design decisions.)

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  42. What a great summery dress! I love yellow too. I did the "I did this on purpose" tucks to shorten an eyelet skirt without losing the bottom border a couple years ago and every time I put it on I love that feature.

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  43. I love yellow, just posted some stuff in this colour too, very beautiful, hughs Anja

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  44. Cute dress. I like how you adjusted your hem length by adding the tucks. Great Idea!

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  45. What a darling dress! Also, yet another proof that yellow looks amazing on you.

    You made such nifty changes to the design.
    I LOVE the tucks - what a great design idea! And I love the border.

    I have this pattern and liked it so much that I made it twice.

    ---
    Also, I'm so glad you enjoyed your being mentioned in my podcast. You are one of the very most inspiring sewists I know! :)

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  46. Love the accidental design element, the length is perfect. Love your dressform too, I've been looking for one myself and I called andy's. The prices seemed very competitive but I'm still waiting on the order form and options.

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  47. Love this color on you and so clever to add the tucks!

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  48. What a great little summer dress! The tucks are perfect and you're right, it totally makes it look RTW.

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